Bogotá, June 16, 2015--Ecuador's state media oversight commission on Saturday fined the independent daily El Universo about US$350,000, accusing the paper of unsatisfactorily publishing a government rebuttal to a story, according to news reports.

New York, May 19, 2015--The attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 shed light on the grave dangers confronting those who draw satirical and political cartoons. But threats against cartoonists are a global phenomenon and are as diverse as the content of the cartoons themselves, according to a report released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. In one case examined in the report, political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, known as "Zunar," faces more than 40 years in prison if found guilty of sedition during a trial that is due to begin in Malaysia on May 20.

On January 7, two gunmen burst into the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing eight journalists and bringing into focus the risks cartoonists face. But with the ability of their work to transcend borders and languages, and to simplify complex political situations, the threats faced by cartoonists around the world—who are being imprisoned, forced into hiding, threatened with legal action or killed—far exceed Islamic extremism. A Committee to Protect Journalists special report by Shawn W. Crispin

On February 13, 2015, Ecuador's media oversight commission, the Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), ordered the Guayaquil-based daily El Universo to publish an apology in connection with a cartoon drawn by Xavier Bonilla, a cartoonist known by his penname Bonil, which was published on August 5, 2014, according to news reports.

Attempts to amend Ecuador's constitution to categorize communications as a "public service" has sparked a fierce debate, with one critic drawing comparisons to the way dictators such as Stalin and Hitler used the press as a propaganda tool, and supporters of President Rafael Correa's government arguing that the proposed reforms will make journalism more accountable and accessible.